Yair Rodriguez vs. Jeremy Stephens didn’t take long. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the way most expected or wanted the fight, and UFC Mexico City, to come to an end.
The fight, ending in 15 seconds, marked the second-shortest fight that ended in such a fashion in UFC history.
SHORTEST NO CONTESTS – UFC History
0:11 – Carlos Junior vs. Casey
0:15 – Rodriguez vs. Stephens #UFCMexico
0:27 – Radach vs. Berger
0:39 – Bedford vs. Yahya
0:39 – Sanders vs. Munhoz pic.twitter.com/ddhOj5a5q6— UFC News (@UFCNews) September 22, 2019
Rodriguez delivered a couple of kicks right out of the gate, and Stephens went to deliver strikes of his own. Unfortunately, it resulted in Rodriguez’s arm extending and his fingers landing in Stephens’ eye.
This strike to the eye caused the #UFCMexico main event to be ruled a No Contest pic.twitter.com/EXIKa2PyeE
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 22, 2019
Referee Herb Dean paused the action and gave Stephens all the time he could, but the poke was bad enough that Stephens said he could not open his eye after five minutes. The bout was forced to be waved off.
Fans in the Mexico City Arena threw debris into the Octagon, and Stephens needed a security escort out of the arena. An emotional Rodriguez, however, did manage to get some ovation from the crowd.
Fans in Mexico City pelt Jeremy Stephens with beer and popcorn after fight is called. @espnmma @marc_raimondi pic.twitter.com/cxv2MlhljC
— Eric Gomez (@EricGomez86) September 22, 2019
In his post-fight interview, Rodriguez says he hopes he and Stephens can run it back as soon as they can.
Main card (ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
Yair Rodriguez vs. Jeremy Stephens goes to a No Contest (accidental foul; eye poke) (Rd. 1, 0:15)
Carla Esparza def. Alexa Grasso via majority decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Brandon Moreno vs. Askar Askarov goes to a split draw (28-28, 30-27, 28-29)
Irene Aldana def. Vanessa Melo via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Steven Peterson def. Martin Bravo via KO (Rd. 2, 1:31)
Preliminary Card (ESPN+, 5 p.m. ET)
Jose Quinonez def. Carlos Huachin via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Kyle Nelson def. Marco Polo Reyes via KO (Rd. 1, 1:36)
Angela Hill def. Ariane Carnelossi via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) (Rd. 3, 1:56)
Sergio Pettis def. Tyson Nam via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Paul Craig def. Vinicius Moreira via submission (rear-naked choke) (Rd. 1, 3:19)
Bethe Correia def. Sijara Eubanks via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Claudio Puelles def. Marcos Mariano via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-25)